Sunday, June 29, 2008

There are a vast number of pictures of Elvis from his early days, butnone as intimate and revealing as the Black-and-White ones taken byAlfred Wertheimer as part of an assignment for RCA Records. Seemsthey wanted to create a buzz around their new 21-year-old singer butsince Elvis was still a financial risk he didn't merit Color footage. Colorfilm and processing was very expensive in those days hence the ordersto Wertheimer to shoot in B/W.

The Daily Mail UK ran a bit about that period in Elvis' life, accompaniedby a few choice Wertheimer captures and some great captions to boot.Here's one of my favorite pics (click to enlarge) from the article :

The accompanying text goes 'All shook up: On his way to a concert inRichmond, Virginia, Elvis pretends to throttle his date for the night.Even in these early days he never liked to be alone - an earlyMemphis Mafia minder rides in the car with the couple'

Friday, June 27, 2008

From Daylife - a widget for your Blog or website that tracksand displays the day's news images as chosen by their editors.Based on your preference, e.g., I chose India, which is aboutas close as I could get to the theme of the Virtual Poona Blog.....and inorder to clear any confusion that may arise, the 'Fool' I speak of in thetitle of this post is none other than yours truly.

Being as how even a fool like myself got to use it simply by typing in therequired field. Explore Daylife. It's a new way of looking at the news.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Sunday, June 23 2008It seems truly fitting that just before his death Mr. Carlin received the newsthat The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts wouldpresent him with its Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Come Nov.,he will become the first person to receive the honor posthumously.And deservedly so. His fearless, outrageous, brilliant and exceptionalobservations on life educated, entertained, inspired and paved the way forfolks like Bill Maher, Jerry Seinfeld et al. He is sorely missed as maybe witnessed by the back-to-back marathon of his HBO specials now onTV.

I posted some of my favorite George Carlin quotes here back in Nov. 2005 LINKand suggest you check out the tons of tribute videos available on YouTubewhich I can't post here due to the graphic language. And speaking of language,this was the master : the author, speaker and performer.....a legend.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Found on Ads of the World.com:'As per the census, there are 958 women for 1000 men.Because, more than 1 million female foetuses are abortedevery year. Wake up before it's too late.Ban Sex Determination.'

Think this is a great bit of creative work by Index AdvertisingAgency and the two Shaikhs involved ? Ads of the World did,perhaps because their reasoning is, the message gets throughto the target audience via an iconic image. But consider this : theiconic artwork is simply a revamping of an old classic movie posterwhich most Indian moviegoers are familiar with. So : shouldn't theArtist and/or the film Producer be credited or thanked in some form ?In all fairness, there hasn't been a complete butchering of the workin this case, only the word 'Mother' has been changed to 'Father',in English and in Hindi. Not too bad, but is the mash-up of a classiciconic image something to be reviled ? Does anyone care ?

Apparently not, especially when almighty Bollywood has been gettingaway with wholesale copyright infringement for decades, thereby settingthe (low) standard for other media in India. This is something I had beenmusing on as a Blog post for a good while now and so it's only naturalthat something like Indian Blogger Nita's words would set me off :

'One hears of bloggers infringing copyright but have you everheard of a major “reputed” publication stealing a blogger’s work?Well, here is an instance. I got a shock to see that a reputednewspaper like the Hindustan Times had stolen a photographof mine.'

Nita the newswoman-turned-blogger has neatly ignited folks' ireagainst infringement not only nationwide but globally as well,judging by the comments posted. Read it all here.

Getting back to what I was aiming for. I've decided that I'm as guiltyas most others are when it comes to Mash-ups, Photoshoppingand the like because it's a fun process, but I must take a harderlook at whether I want to ignore the legal and ethical aspects involved.

Monday, June 16, 2008

An interesting Ad image for People Opposed to Woman Abuse (POWA) that Icame across while checking the RSS feed for Scary Ideas, website thattracks unusual media files. (See warning below)

This one

brings to mind my friends at the Blank Noise Project in India,who bravely fight the daily fight against Violence and Sexual Harassmentof Women in their communities. Notice how in India their call to action bysubtle (Blank Noise) methods parallels the one in South Africa, a countrythat's thousands of miles away. Yes, it's a ongoing, worldwide problemsince time immemorial and they need your help in spreading the word thatit's downright wrong, immoral, disrespectful, hateful, demoralizing, immatureand plain stupid.

Be Warned : Scary Ideas can be scary as it contains images thatsome may consider offensive or NSFW !

Friday, June 13, 2008

Now this is a marriage made in heaven for Harrah's and Microsoft alike.Harrah's iBar, located inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino is thesecond major showcase for the Surface application after AT &T but thesigns are good that this will be the one to beat. Why ? Because whilethe usual high-rollers are busy at the gaming tables taking their chanceswith Lady Luck, the younger, techie-type 'players' got some real 'game'.You might say they are virtually upping the ante, and all without the watchfuleye of the dealer. Hey, Lady Luck just might be sitting across the room, andMr. Lucky can channel her in real time and see her in person.

Here's a bit from the Surface Blog of June 11, 2008 :Harrah's 'most ambitious application is “Flirt” which uses strategicallyplaced video cameras to create an exciting new way to initiateconversation, flirt and meet new people from one Surface to another.Additional applications include a series of play-for-fun interactivegames like bowling, a challenging musical memory game, and multi-playerpinball with a twist. There's even a cool mixologist app that lets youdesign and order your own drinks. In addition to the applications that Harrah'screated, they are also using the photos and concierge apps that the Surfaceteam built. Harrah's has taken those apps and customized them to theRio/Las Vegas environment with photos, video, maps and attractions info tohelp guests plan their stay all within the comfort of the iBar.'

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Banjo goes plonkity-plonk and the Baby goes Boing ! Boing !This baby has a natural ear for Music and Dance and who knows whatelse. Hope we can follow the progress of this wunderkind through theeyes of his parents. Many thanks to Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boingfor the link to this Flickr videoclip !

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Are you a budding Picasso ? No ? Well, this is your chance to gocrazy and express yourself in the style of the Master of the Abstractjust by a few drag-and-drop gestures of your mouse. Then....Voila !You get an e-mail that says :

Monday, June 09, 2008

Any health-savvy individual knows that Fish is equally healthy as Veggies *and the tastiest alternative to Meat. Now a little more research has surfacedto give us more reason to heartily indulge in our seafood cravings. I gladly sharethese findings with you as a subscriber toFish Helps You Keep the BeatIn this ever more polluted world, sometimes you just can't avoid a littlebit of particulate matter in your lungs.

So go fish! Eating finny food not only reduces your risk for heart diseasebut also may protect your heart from air-pollution-induced arrhythmias.

Taking Heart Against PollutionShort-term exposure to small airborne particles spewed from cars,power plants, and other industrial sources may cause an irregularheart rate. Serious stuff, because it could open the door to heartarrhythmias and even heart attacks in people who are over 60 orhave heart or lung diseases. (Find out what the early warning signs of heart disease are.)

Airing Things OutBut fish could help thwart that unhealthy chain of events. A study foundthat the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil may help alleviate thoseirregular beats. That's just what happened when people over 60 whowere exposed to particulate matter took a daily fish oil supplement.Fish oil supplements aren't for everyone, though, and should bediscussed with a doctor first. Read up on both the benefits and risks of fish oil supplements

But most people can eat a couple servings of fish each weekwithout worry.

RealAge Benefit: Eating nonfried fish three times a week can makeyour RealAge up to 3 years younger.